Starbucks and water and gas! Oh my!

[HungryWriter]

Are skies really blue somewhere over the rainbow? In the case of gas prices, I don't think so. I hope so. I can dare to dream.

I NEED gas so I pay the continued increase in gas price without complaints because there’s no other alternative for me at the moment. I NEED water but I can choose to pay a buck for 24 ounces of water or find a water fountain and drink it for free. I NEED coffee and it has to be Starbucks Coffee or I’ll just be pissed off all day.

I drive a minimum of 38 miles a day to and from work. My car gets a combined 22 mpg so it costs about $5.37 a day to drive to and from work. At five days a week that’s $26.85 a week. In a month’s time I pay approximately a minimum of $107.44 for gas. That’s an 11% increase in my gas expense from a year ago. But we're not in Kansas anymore.

The Katrina disaster is also expected to effect gas prices as well. So expect gas prices to rise in the near future.

I’m not going to complain that I paid $3.11 for a gallon of gas. I need it, I’ll pay it. I hear people complain about gas prices all the while holding a 24 ounce bottle of water that they paid a dollar for at a 7-11. Gas is a scarce resource. Water is everywhere. You can drink water for free yet people throw money at water companies by paying more than $5.00 a gallon for it without complaining.

I was at Vons the other morning and walked by the Starbucks counter and heard a lady complain about gas prices to another person in line. And she was buying a cup of coffee for $1.85! She can make Starbucks coffee at home with a $9.95 bag of whole bean coffee. That’s like paying approximately 40 cents for a each cup of coffee. And she was really REALLY bitching about gas prices. YO, DOROTHY! You're paying an extra 300% for a cup coffee in order to feed your addiction! Stop the complaining!

I’m not going to complain about gas prices. I’m just going to watch my mileage a little bit more while I enjoy my 40 cent cup of STARBUCKS COFFEE every day to the very last drop. And maybe, somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue. And if I dare to dream of gas prices coming down, maybe my dreams will come true.

[tommykjensen]

In Denmark 1 LITER of gas cost $1,7 !

But I am not complaining, I don't own a car. I don't even have a drivers license.

[Scottes]

I agree with you wholeheartedly Hungry.

[robertwgross]

I drive a minimum of 38 miles a day to and from work.

There's your problem.

Try public transportation. Try carpools. Try a bicycle.

---Bob Gross---

[Danny Boy]

Try public transportation. Try carpools. Try a bicycle.


If those alternatives, or any others are acceptable. With me, I have to drop my 4 year old son off at daycare on the way to work. He'd fall off of my bike. :D

Dan

[HungryWriter]

If those alternatives, or any others are acceptable. With me, I have to drop my 4 year old son off at daycare on the way to work. He'd fall off of my bike. :D

Dan

Absolutely. If I didn't have two kids to drop off and pick up on a daily basis I'd take the train or bus. But when you're fighting time spent on the road with morning daycare and evening day care, the overtime costs of those things outweigh the cost of gas to get their before I get charged an additional $10.00 every hour.

[Skip Souza]

My dear departed father-in-law was a real honest to gosh Rocket Scientist. A chemist, he developed the material for the Titan II re-entry vehicle nose cone. He also worked for Nuclear Weapons Lab and Aerospace, a brilliant man. It was his opinion that oil was too valuable to burn in cars and houses. Oil is the basis for most plastics and other man made materials. I agree with him wholeheartedly that oil sould be put to better use such as making plastic beer cups :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :p :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[pcasciola]

Within two weeks gas will be $4.00 a gallon, costing me over $150 to fill up my pickup. $150!!!!! :evil:

What do you think, time to trade the dually in on a Civic Hybrid? :D

[Skip Souza]

What do you think, time to trade the dually in on a Civic Hybrid? :D
Will it run on BP-511A's ???

[MazerRakhm]

I really wish Americans would put more faith/interest into mass transit. I'd like to be able to take a train to work, I just can't seem to find a job downtown and that's the only place the train goes.

[pcasciola]

Will it run on BP-511A's ???If it did, they would need about 500 slots. :D

[EricKonieczny]

I really wish Americans would put more faith/interest into mass transit. I'd like to be able to take a train to work, I just can't seem to find a job downtown and that's the only place the train goes.


I wish US cities would adopt and invest in it also. But it would be a engineering nightmare or almost impossible in most US cities due to the lack of urban planning in the in the housing boom after WW2.

Even if it was structurelly possibly, the costs for it would be mind boggling.:(

[robertwgross]

One word:

SOLAR

There is a huge amount of energy falling on every square foot of the Earth's surface every day. Well, maybe not in Great Britain...

I've got a big solar panel up on the equator side of my house, and my battery bank stays charged up. An electric car can be plugged in for some miles of range. A computer can be plugged in for some hours of Internet connection. A camera's battery charger can run for a long time.

Solar. It's renewable. Clean.

I will admit that it isn't cheap to start it off, but it will pay for itself over time. The closer you are to the equator, the faster it will pay for itself.

---Bob Gross---

[pcasciola]

I wish more companies would just adopt a telecommuting policy. Many jobs can be done from home with a computer and high speed Internet.

[robertwgross]

Telecommuting is a good idea for some companies, and for some job functions within those companies. Alas, there are too many jobs that require somebody to be sitting there in the chair.

Also, some companies have found that only by being able to get everybody together around the same meeting table can they get the critical mass to get anything decided.

Suppose you had an appointment with your physician, and the nurse parks you on the examination table and tells you to speak toward the video camera. Then the staticy voice on the other end of the line asks, "Now, where does it hurt?"

---Bob Gross---

[Moppie]

I just wish Americans would stop complaining about gas prices. .

[pcasciola]

Suppose you had an appointment with your physician, and the nurse parks you on the examination table and tells you to speak toward the video camera. Then the staticy voice on the other end of the line asks, "Now, where does it hurt?"The situation you described is not that far from reality. Have you heard of teleradiology yet? I kid you not. It's a reality. X-Rays, CT Scans and MRI images are being digitally transmitted to doctors in India for evaluation.

I'll dig up the article if you're interested.

Netmeeting works pretty well for teleconferencing. My former company uses it. Webcams are cheap now, so people could easily teleconference from home with a high speed connection.

Regarding solar, I've been very tempted. The NJ Energy Saver program will actually pay 70% of the cost of the system. I could get a $50K system for $17K that would reduce my electric bill by about $200 per month, making the system pay for itself in only 7-8 years because of the huge rebate.

[pcasciola]

I just wish Americans would stop complaining about gas prices. .$4 a gallon for regular can't be far off from what you guys are paying, no? I realize many European countries are much higher than that, but I thought Australia and New Zealand were around $4-5 per gallon.

[robertwgross]

The situation you described is not that far from reality. Have you heard of teleradiology yet? I kid you not. It's a reality. X-Rays, CT Scans and MRI images are being digitally transmitted to doctors in India for evaluation.

I'll dig up the article if you're interested.


I first started dealing professionally with the technology issues of videoconferencing and tele-medicine back in 1990, so I'm aware.


Regarding solar, I've been very tempted. The NJ Energy Saver program will actually pay 70% of the cost of the system. I could get a $50K system for $17K that would reduce my electric bill by about $200 per month, making the system pay for itself in only 7-8 years because of the huge rebate.

Ahhh, I've been down that road also. New Jersey is kind of far north, but not too bad. Here is the trick to it:
1) You've got three homeowners, A, B, and C, and each of you wants a solar system that is partly subsidized by the state.
2) Homeowner A puts up his system, and he hires B and C as the contractors on the job. He arranges to pay each of them, say $20,000 for their work.
3) Homeowner B puts up his system, and he hires A and C as the contractors. Same deal.
4) Homeowner C puts up his system, and he hires A and B as the contractors. Same deal.
5) The amount of payments between A, B, and C will wash out.
6) The amount of the state subsidy is huge, and it ends up paying for nearly all of the real equipment costs.

Think about it.

---Bob Gross---

[JohnnyG]

I saw on the news tonight that a station in Atlanta, Ga. has gas at a little over $6.00 a gallon today!:( I don't know if it was a joke but if it was it wasn't very funny.

[tommykjensen]

$4 a gallon for regular can't be far off from what you guys are paying, no? I realize many European countries are much higher than that, but I thought Australia and New Zealand were around $4-5 per gallon.

How many liters is a gallon?

In Denmark we pay $1,7 per LITER ! And the price goes up today. So $4 is very cheap.

[pcasciola]

How many liters is a gallon?

In Denmark we pay $1,7 per LITER ! And the price goes up today. So $4 is very cheap.Roughly 3.5 liters per gallon I think.

But don't forget, Europeans pay a lot of tax on gas. It's how they try to control oil consumption. We don't pay a lot of gasoline tax here, but they get it from us in other ways, like just bumping my property taxes to $12,000 a year. I'd rather pay $6 a gallon for gas and $5,000 in property taxes any day. How are the property taxes in Denmark? I have no idea.

[robertwgross]

Why don't you two guys exchange house keys for a month or two? One in New Jersey for one in Denmark. Even if it didn't prove anything, you would each appreciate the other guy's position better.

Just remember: Walk a mile in the other guy's shoes. Besides, then you will be a mile away and you will have his shoes.

---Bob Gross---

[Desertraptor]

One word... OPEC.

Why do our oil prices have to be linked to OPEC. I was told be a reliable source a few years back that Australia can be self reliant on petrol. We only need to import crude for the production of lubricants.

So why is our petrol price so high?
No. 1 Reason is OPEC holding the West to ransom daily.
No. 2 Australia's petrol price is better than 50 cent per litre Gov Tax.

[tommykjensen]

Roughly 3.5 liters per gallon I think.

But don't forget, Europeans pay a lot of tax on gas. It's how they try to control oil consumption. We don't pay a lot of gasoline tax here, but they get it from us in other ways, like just bumping my property taxes to $12,000 a year. I'd rather pay $6 a gallon for gas and $5,000 in property taxes any day. How are the property taxes in Denmark? I have no idea.

Don't know exactly since I personally don't pay property tax since I rent my apartment. But house owners are ripped off in taxes. We are all ripped off in tax and vat. And there are huges taxes on cars too. Put 300-500% on the price You pay in US and You have the amount of tax we have to pay on top of the price for the car.

[robertwgross]

You see, everybody is thinking in terms of how much tax there is per gallon or litre of gasoline.

Just think, if you had a solar powered car, you wouldn't find the government trying to tax the light hitting your solar panels, would you?

I know. I know. Pure-solar cars are not practical today. But that is what they said about gasoline powered cars about a hundred years ago.

---Bob Gross---

[tommykjensen]

You see, everybody is thinking in terms of how much tax there is per gallon or litre of gasoline.

Just think, if you had a solar powered car, you wouldn't find the government trying to tax the light hitting your solar panels, would you?

I know. I know. Pure-solar cars are not practical today. But that is what they said about gasoline powered cars about a hundred years ago.

---Bob Gross---

I agree that governments should focus more on alternative energy sources.

Denmark is in fact leading in the windmill energy but the government is not supporting this enough.


I know windmills would not be the best for powering cars ;)

[robertwgross]

Wind and solar and geothermal and hydro are all good sources of power. Now we just have to develop better energy storage systems for the power. By that, I mean something a little better than a BP-511A battery.

If you've got plenty of electrical power, then convert water to hydrogen and oxygen, and you've got yourself a fuel cell. Use the fuel cell, and all you get out is energy and some water vapor.

Maybe one of these days we will be plugging a small fuel cell into the bottom of our cameras.

---Bob Gross---

[Carzee]

I'll chime in with a phenomenon which may be history soon - my friend is flying economy from Sydney to London for a visit to dustant family etc. A 9 day break air in total incl the return flight. Not business related.

And there's a load people do that. In years to come...

[Jesper]

I recently saw a list on CNN with gas prices around the world.
Here it is: http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/global_gasprices/

And who is the winner: The Netherlands. We have the most expensive gas of the world!
It costs about US$ 6.50 per gallon here.
So don't complain... :roll:

[alfa1six4]

I saw on the news tonight that a station in Atlanta, Ga. has gas at a little over $6.00 a gallon today!:( I don't know if it was a joke but if it was it wasn't very funny.

I totally agree with the original poster. I didn't hear of $6/gal here in the Atlanta area, but it's entirely possible. At 6am yesterday morning my local station was $2.62/gal, at 3pm I paid $2.99/gal and the guy was in the process of changing the sign to $3.19/gal.

I think part of the problem is the news media. They have been hyping up possible gas shortages in GA because one of the two piplines supplying the state has been damaged. They say there may only be a 10 day supply. True, who knows. So what do you expect people are going to do, everyone goes and tops off thier gas tanks putting more of a strain on an already limited supply. Just my .02c

[75D]

If you guy's think you have it bad, just head north.
Price of a LITER of gas just went to $1.34 CDN.
Do the math and it comes out to about $8.80 USD.

[hjoli]

I'm in Bangor Maine and I have seen the prices jump here as well. Our gas prices have gone from 2.39 on Wednesday to 3.59 as of 7:30 this morning. And they are talking higher than that by tonight. I haven't checked the price of oil for heating yet, I'm a bit scared to! LOL

[pcasciola]

If you guy's think you have it bad, just head north.
Price of a LITER of gas just went to $1.34 CDN.
Do the math and it comes out to about $8.80 USD.I think that math is backwards. $1.34 CDN is $1.12 US. 3.8 Liters per gallon makes it $4.25 per gallon. There are many gas stations here that are already at $3.99 a gallon for regular, so it's not far off.

Keep in mind we were paying $1.25-$1.50 only about 2 years ago, so that's why we are complaining. We are looking at a tripling in gas prices over a 2 year period, conveniently right after the big SUV and truck boom ended and hudreds of thousands of vehicles were sold that get 11-15 mpg. I don't think any other country has faced a tripling in gasoline prices in the past 2 years.

To me it seems like another scam to help the failing auto industry. Now everyone who bought all the big trucks and SUVs will have to go out and buy more fuel efficient cars. The price will go down again and people will trade their fuel efficient cars back in for big trucks and SUVs, and so on.....

[gramps]

Just think, if you had a solar powered car, you wouldn't find the government trying to tax the light hitting your solar panels, would you?



I'd bet they would raise the property tax on the car!

[robertwgross]

I'd bet they would raise the property tax on the car!

For the last 28 years or so, I have never paid any property tax on a car.

Some states are like that.

---Bob Gross---

[Sathi]

I really wish Americans would put more faith/interest into mass transit. I'd like to be able to take a train to work, I just can't seem to find a job downtown and that's the only place the train goes.

American cities are so rediculously non bike friendly compared to European cities. And even if we had bike highways here, I doubt the people in my office who take the elevator DOWN from the 2nd floor to the 1st floor would use them. I have no sympathy for anyone who bought an SUV.

[Sathi]

To me it seems like another scam to help the failing auto industry. Now everyone who bought all the big trucks and SUVs will have to go out and buy more fuel efficient cars. The price will go down again and people will trade their fuel efficient cars back in for big trucks and SUVs, and so on.....

I completely agree with this. The government uses tax money to subsidize the energy industry. This keeps gasoline and other energy prices artificially low. This creates an imbalance in the market and leads to artificially high consumption. Why would anyone want this? Well, any question in life can usually be answered by following the money trail.

[zacker]

one five pound of folgers will last me over a month.. its like 3 bucks.. god, i pay more for the half and half i put in it...lol were up to 3 bucks a gallon here in ct now, and i dont drink bottled water unless its the cheap stuff i get at biglots... 6- six packs for about 2 bucks! id rather pay for gas than spend the $$$ on expensive "designer" coffee, plus i have photo stuff to buy. Although i do stop at the local mini mart every morn for my cup o' joe (which is excellent) and a bagle... but hey, breakfast IS the most important meal of the day!

[HJMinard]

To me it seems like another scam to help the failing auto industry. Now everyone who bought all the big trucks and SUVs will have to go out and buy more fuel efficient cars. The price will go down again and people will trade their fuel efficient cars back in for big trucks and SUVs, and so on.....

Oh, I highly doubt that. I work in the auto industry (no pride involved :( just a fact) and I can assure you that the auto manufacturers make ALOT more money (per vehicle and in general) selling trucks and SUV's than they do with cars. Particularly Ford and GM ... even Toyota (speaking of which ... it makes me laugh when I hear how much credit Toyota gets for being "environmentally friendly" because of that ridiculously low volume Prius ... while simultaneously introducing more (and bigger) trucks to the market).

Detroit (meaning the American automotive industry) is not pleased with the gas prices.

[HJMinard]

I’m not going to complain that I paid $3.11 for a gallon of gas. I need it, I’ll pay it. I hear people complain about gas prices all the while holding a 24 ounce bottle of water that they paid a dollar for at a 7-11. Gas is a scarce resource. Water is everywhere. You can drink water for free yet people throw money at water companies by paying more than $5.00 a gallon for it without complaining.

I agree with most of your diatribe, but I wanted to point out that drinkable water is almost never free. Perhaps it is somewhere, but where I live we receive a bill from the city either quarterly or semi-annually (don't remember which). I don't recall the price per gallon, but it ain't free. Where allowed, I suppose you could drill a well on your property to get some for free, but I don't think that's allowed in most cities.

Additionally, water is most definitely not everywhere. Rationing already takes place in some parts of the U.S., and I'm certain there are places in the world where drinkable water is very scarce. In my opinion, fresh, drinkable water is going to become an extremely valuable commodity as the world population continues to increase. There has already been a couple commercial attempts (thwarted, so far) to divert (sell) Great Lakes water to other parts of the world.

[MazerRakhm]

Actually there was a very interesting article about the consumption and demand of water in either last months or the previous months National Geographic.

Due to lack of rain this year (and for the past several) and the ammount of water used/demanded we are facing an ever growing shortage.

[pcasciola]

And who is the winner: The Netherlands. We have the most expensive gas of the world!
It costs about US$ 6.50 per gallon here.
So don't complain... :roll:That's what people in Georgia are paying today. Can we complain now? :D

[alfa1six4]

That's what people in Georgia are paying today. Can we complain now? :D

Yep, it is true some stations were charging upwards of $6/gal. Most have leveled off at $3.50.

[FlyingPete]

We are paying around $4US a US gallon based on the current exchange rate and our price per litre.

One difference here is though the fact that we generally don't commute as far (hey it takes me almost an hour to travel 10 miles in the morning rolleyes: ), and we generally have much smaller Japanese cars, the average size probably around a 2 litre engine, not much point in going to large, as there are few opportunities to really utilise that.

I for one spend around $50US a week in petrol that gets me around 220miles, that is on my 2.5L Mazda.

[zacker]

hey, the last time we got mad about taxes... didnt we dump some tea into the Boston Harbor??? Its too bad Oil is harfull to the waters, we could dress up like Indians again and unload a few billion gallons then drive cars that run on canola! Mmmmm Canolaaaaa! hey I also hear of a bear destroying a car in a mall parking lot because it was run on cooking oil (the car, not the bear) I guess it smelled good enough to eat.
-zacker-

[FlyingPete]

hey, the last time we got mad about taxes... didnt we dump some tea into the Boston Harbor??? Its too bad Oil is harfull to the waters, we could dress up like Indians again and unload a few billion gallons then drive cars that run on canola! Mmmmm Canolaaaaa! hey I also hear of a bear destroying a car in a mall parking lot because it was run on cooking oil (the car, not the bear) I guess it smelled good enough to eat.
-zacker-

Apprantly cars running on 'Biofuel' or vegitable oil smell really nice, some people in the UK use the old oil from chippie shops!

[saqib]

i wish...well that's it really. i just wish.

[johnnybfan]

I guess that if you think that water is free, check out New Orleans and the surrounding area. Potable water is very scarce and very precious there. Put the price of gas against that and $3.29 a gallon doesn't seem all that important. We won't be eating out as much as we used to but at least we have the choice. The people down south sure don't.

[FlyingPete]

I guess that if you think that water is free, check out New Orleans and the surrounding area. Potable water is very scarce and very precious there. Put the price of gas against that and $3.29 a gallon doesn't seem all that important. We won't be eating out as much as we used to but at least we have the choice. The people down south sure don't.

Someone once asked me what I thought the true value of water was, his point was what would you pay for a bottle of clean water if you were in a situation where there was none, I guess even though they have pleanty of water, none of it is really any good.

[Jemmind]

Well I think a lot has to do with how much gas we have to buy. People often say, why complain about gas, when (water, milk, or whatever) costs this (insert price much larger than the current price of gas) but the thing is when is the last time you had to go and buy 20 gallons of milk to last a week or whatever? If I could buy one gallon of gas and it last me all week then heck, I'd pay 20$ per gallon if that was all I needed. And I can drink tap water or go without milk but I can't go anywhere without gas unless I buy a horse and then where would you park him? ;) There was talk of putting in a train on the CSX line from Athens to Atlanta GA but they never do anything they say. My husband just bought a very cheap 3rd vehicle ('93 Honda Civic) for me to drive back and forth to work because the jeep's gas milage is very low. It's frustrating but you feel bad complaining about gas prices when so many people were killed/ left homeless, ect from the storm. :(

[zacker]

who I dont feel sorry for is everyone who ran out and bought a Hmmer or other extra large truck! I cant, for the life of me understand why anyone thinks they need such a large vehicle...esp. when we do have paved roads and highways now. There is no need, esp. in the cities, why one would need anything over a V-6 and over 5000 lbs. WHY???? we should all buy motorcycles, they are waaaay cooler than an SUV and they are better on gas, faster and much more economicle. imagine, gas going over 3 bucks a gallon?? when we have billions of barrelles just sitting in reserve.. what for? I suppose this isnt an emergency?
Rediculas!
-zacker-

[Mike Panic]

i just applied for a www.discover.com (http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-1319779-10368531) card - just for the reason that it offers up to 5% cash back on all gas purchases.

if gas is going to stay @ $3 / gallon (its around $3.50 here now), i'll take 5% back,thats more then 15 cents off per gallon in the long run - and i HATE credit card